1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to recreational vehicles and especially to a system for leveling and supporting a recreational vehicle utilizing fluid actuated cylinders driven from a master cylinder.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A variety of recreational vehicles is available on the market including small and large campers for attachment to the back of a family automobile for camping for short or extended periods of time; large motor homes and fifth wheel campers which do not have front wheels and are suspended by a "fifth wheel" to the back of a pick-up truck. This latter vehicle requires front end support when disconnected from the truck.
One of the problems encountered by most recreational vehicles is supporting the front end or tongue of the camper when the recreational vehicle is disconnected from the family car or other towing vehicles. The support must be adjustable to allow the vehicle to be adjusted for different heights to maintain the inside of the recreational vehicle level.
In addition, on the smaller campers, springs are such that the campers tend to be unstable and shake considerably when positioned in a campground. These problems are dealt with by hand actuated jacks which may be placed under the tongue of a camper, or mounted to the front portion of the fifth wheel camper, and which may be hand actuated to raise or lower the front portion of the vehicle. On smaller campers that tend to be unstable, a series of smaller hand operated jacks are sometimes positioned on the four corners and each jack operated to get the camper level and supported by the jacks so that the camper will not rock when walking from one side to the other of the camper.
In addition to the hand actuated jacks that are commonly used or supplied with recreational vehicles, auxiliary jacks have been available which are actuated by electric motors for raising and lowering a portion of the vehicle. These, however, require connection to electrical power and are expensive to purchase as an option to the recreational vehicles. Finally, large semi-trailers having fifth wheels have air over hydraulic jacks for supporting the trailers when disconnected from the cab portion and which are actuated by the truck's air system.